Slow skeletal muscle troponin T (TNNT1) has been reported to be correlated with several cancers, but there are no evidences proving that TNNT1 is required in colon adenocarcinoma (COAD). TNNT1 expression in COAD tissues and its prognostic significance were acquired from TCGA database. The proliferative, migratory, and invasive abilities of COAD cells were detected by CCK-8 and transwell assays, respectively. Correlations between TNNT1 and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related markers were determined using western blotting and Pearson’s analysis. Our results stated that TNNT1 expression was high-regulated in COAD tissues, which was related with unfavorable prognosis of COAD patients. Functional analyses suggested that TNNT1 promoted the cellular behaviors. Moreover, aberrant expression of TNNT1 affected the expression level of EMT-related proteins. And TNNT1 was negatively linked with E-cadherin. In conclusion, our findings indicated that TNNT1 may promote the progression of COAD, mediating EMT process, and thus shed a novel light on COAD therapeutic treatments.

Background The present study aimed to identify a specific circular RNA (circRNA) for early diagnosis of gastric cancer (GC). Methods Totally 82 patients with GC, 30 with chronic nonatrophic gastritis and 30 with chronic atrophic gastritis were included in this study. Four of the 82 GC patients were selected for screening. Total RNA from malignant and adjacent tissue samples was extracted, and circRNAs in four patients were screened. According to the screening results, the eight most upregulated and downregulated circRNAs with a statistically significant association with GC were identified by real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Then, the most regulated circRNA was selected for further sensitivity and specificity assessments. CircRNA expression was examined by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR in 78 GC (21 and 57 early and advanced GC, respectively) and adjacent tissue samples, as well as in gastric fluid samples from 30 patients with chronic nonatrophic gastritis, 30 with chronic atrophic gastritis, and 78 GC. Results A total of 445 circRNAs, including 69 upregulated and 376 downregulated circRNAs, showed significantly altered expression in GC tissue samples. Hsa_circ_000780 was significantly downregulated in 80.77% of GC tissue samples, with levels in GC tissue samples correlating with tumor size, tumor stage, T stage, venous invasion, carcinoembryonic antigen amounts, and carbohydrate antigen 19–9 levels. Strikingly, this circRNA was found in the gastric fluid of patients with early and advanced GC. Conclusions The present study uncovered a new circRNA expression profile in human GC, with hsa_circ_000780 significantly downregulated in GC tissue and gastric fluid specimens. These findings indicate that hsa_circ_000780 should be considered a novel biomarker for early GC screening.

Background: Suppressor 3 of cytokine signaling (SOCS3) hypermethylation has been reported to participate in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development and progression, but conflicting results were published. This study aimed to analyze the clinical effects of SOCS3 hypermethylation in HCC and the effects of sex and age on SOCS3 hypermethylation in HCC.Methods: Databases were searched for relevant case-control and cohort studies on SOCS3 hypermethylation in HBV-related HCC. In vitro and in vivo studies and studies of patients with serious comorbidities were excluded. Review Manager 5.2 was used to estimate the effects of the results among the selected studies. Forest plots, sensitivity analysis, and bias analysis for the included studies were also conducted.Results: Finally, 8 relevant studies met the inclusion criteria. A significant difference in SOCS3 hypermethylation in HCC was found between tumor and nontumor groups (the odds ratio [OR] = 2.01, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.48-2.73, P < .00001; P for heterogeneity = .39, I 2 = 5%). The meta-analysis suggested no significant difference in the effect of sex (OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.76-1.31, P = .76; P for heterogeneity = .44, I 2 = 0%) and age on SOCS3 hypermethylation in HCC (OR = 1.11, 100% CI: 0.78-1.29, P = .03; P for heterogeneity = .14, I 2 = 36%). Limited publication bias was observed in this study.Conclusion: SOCS3 hypermethylation is associated with HBV-related HCC. Sex and age do not affect the association between SOCS3 hypermethylation and HCC. SOCS3 might be a treatment target for HCC.Abbreviations: CIs = confidence intervals, HBV = hepatitis B virus, HCC = hepatocellular carcinoma, NOS = Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, OR = odds ratio, SOCS = suppressors of cytokine signaling, SOCS3 = suppressor 3 of cytokine signaling.

Background: The present study aimed to identify a specific circular RNA (circRNA) for early diagnosis of gastric cancer (GC).Methods: Totally 82 patients with GC, 30 with chronic nonatrophic gastritis and 30 with chronic atrophic gastritis were included in this study. Four of the 82 GC patients were selected for screening. Total RNA from malignant and adjacent tissue samples was extracted, and circRNAs in four patients were screened. According to the screening results, the eight most upregulated and downregulated circRNAs with a statistically significant association with GC were identified by real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Then, the most regulated circRNA was selected for further sensitivity and specificity assessments. CircRNA expression was examined by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR in 78 GC and adjacent tissue samples, as well as in gastric fluid samples from 30 patients with chronic nonatrophic gastritis, 30 with chronic atrophic gastritis, 21 with early GC, and 57 with advanced GC.Results: A total of 445 circRNAs, including 69 upregulated and 376 downregulated circRNAs, showed significantly altered expression in GC tissue samples. Hsa_circ_000780 was significantly downregulated in 80.77% of GC tissue samples, with levels in GC tissue samples correlating with tumor size, tumor stage, T stage, venous invasion, carcinoembryonic antigen amounts, and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels. Strikingly, this circRNA was found in the gastric fluid of patients with early and advanced GC.Conclusions: The present study uncovered a new circRNA expression profile in human GC, with hsa_circ_000780 significantly downregulated in GC tissue and gastric fluid specimens. These findings indicate that hsa_circ_000780 should be considered a novel biomarker for early GC screening.

Background: In China, gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignant tumors. This study aimed to explore the relationship of rs2297810, rs4646491 and rs2297809 polymorphisms of CYP4B1 with susceptibility to GC in the Chinese Han population. Methods: A case-control study including 707 GC cases and 707 normal controls was conducted. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped by Agena MassARRAY system. Logistic regression analysis was utilized to assess the effects of SNPs on GC risk. Furthermore, multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) approach was used to analyze the SNP-SNP interactions. Results: No significant relationships were found between rs2297810 and rs2297809 and GC risk under all genetic models. For rs4646491, people with TC genotype had a 1.40-fold higher risk of GC than those with CC genotype (OR = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.13–1.74; p = 0.002), and people with TT-TC genotype had a 1.30-fold higher risk of GC than those with CC genotype (OR = 1.30; 95% CI = 1.06–1.61; p = 0.014). Stratification results showed that GC risk in people carrying TC genotype was higher than that in people with CC genotype, males (OR = 1.36; 95% CI = 1.06–1.75; p = 0.015), non-smokers (OR = 1.52; 95% CI = 1.11–2.07; p = 0.009) and non-drinkers (OR = 1.50; 95% CI = 1.10–2.04; p = 0.010). Additionally, the study also revealed that GC risk in people carrying TT-TC genotype was higher than that in people with CC genotype, males (OR = 1.29; 95% CI = 1.01–1.64; p = 0.040), non-smokers (OR = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.04–1.89; p = 0.027) and non-drinkers (OR = 1.39; 95% CI = 1.03–1.87; p = 0.030). Conclusion: This study firstly found that CYP4B1-rs4646491 was significantly correlated with GC risk, and it might be a risk factor for GC.